Imagine being a member of a scientific expedition exploring the remains of a rain and cloud forest, 95% of which has already been destroyed to make way for farming.
Think about how crowded any forest is with countless bits of life (and death) — the newly born or hatched and therefore hidden, the flash as a fully mature animal streaks past, the numberless array of growing plants and trees as well as all of these in their different stages of long decay.
Now imagine having the both the skills and luck to isolate something this small, a previously unknown species of gecko, the same dull grey in tone as parts of the leave litter on the ground or perhaps the filigree mould colonising a small tree.
It is one thing to notice what we expect to find but another thing altogether to strive to see what was there all along, in plain sight but beyond what our narrow imaginations could dream of.
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